1. Field
Aspects of embodiments according to the present invention relate to eating utensils.
2. Description of Related Art
When consuming food, the proper utensils are commonly chosen depending on types of food and culinary culture. Typically, forks and knives are used in the West, while spoons and/or chopsticks are used in Eastern countries like Korea, China and Japan.
These days, a variety of cultural exchanges has allowed people to come in contact with foreign culinary cultures, which has led to wider use of the different types of eating utensils mentioned above.
Especially, proper utensils are needed depending on different types of food. In order to consume soup or salad, one needs a spoon or a fork respectively, while forks and knives are used in order to consume meat-based meals. On the other hand, chopsticks are used when taking a small portion of food or sampling side dishes. Situations often arise that require some, or all, of these utensils together.
Moreover, when eating out, most people use toothpicks when they are done with consuming meals to get rid of any food that is stuck between their teeth. Therefore, a spoon 130, a fork 110, a knife 100, chopsticks 140 and a toothpick 120, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, should be procured before consuming a meal.
However, because the utensils mentioned above (spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, toothpicks) are produced independently, users have to prepare each utensil independently before using them. Furthermore, the burden is increased even more when dining outdoors or picnicking as it is inconvenient to supply and transport all the necessary eating utensils.
Because of the inconvenience caused by having all the utensils separately, most people usually use disposable plastic spoons and wooden chopsticks when dining outdoors. However, users also need to prepare disposable utensils separately because those utensils are produced and sold separately. Furthermore, when people try to consume meat products, diners have a hard time consuming the meal due to the lack of forks and knives and must resort to bad table manners such as using their teeth to bite chunks from a large piece of meat they hold up using chopsticks.
In addition, people usually forget to bring toothpicks whenever they are eating outside. Consequently, people usually break wooden chopsticks into a sharp splinter to get rid of any food stuck between their teeth. This is not only inconvenient but dangerous as well since people can cut their gums on the sharp splinters.
The utensils listed above are typically used for lunch boxes, picnics or camping, and they are also used at snack bars and restaurants. Preparing and providing all of these separate utensils is not only an inconvenience, but users may also forget to pack specific utensils from time to time. There is also the inconvenience from having to wash all the utensils after they have been used which can take up considerable time and effort.